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February 2007
Happy Valentine's Day!
My favorite holiday of the year. |
Greetings Oregon Coaster!
THANK YOU for opening this email! I think you'll find
that it's worth your time to look through.
This is our general newsletter. We also publish community-specific newsletters when there's enough material to warrant it. |
| New Feature Being Added |
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 Is your business going "green"? Tell the world!
We are developing a small symbol to put next to the name of businesses on their community page who practice conservation. If your business is doing something substantial in helping to conserve/reuse resources (just recycling cans isn't enough to qualify), let us know what you're doing! More people are choosing to patronize "green" businesses. Help them find you! We'll also feature you in an upcoming newsletter. |
| Take a Look at This! |
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 This month's featured web site
OCBN exists to promote its members, but we often come across web sites that are just too nice to pass by. If you'd like to suggest a stand-out site, please let us know. We may feature it in our next issue!
Check out Music on the Bay in Coos Bay. A beautiful, classic web presence. Unfortunately, they need to update their web site, another common mistake. |
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Web Design Tip of the Month |
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 The cost of "free" web design software
Whether you design your web site or have someone else do it for you, you need to pay attention to it to save embarrassment, frustration of your customers, and potential loss of prospects.
There are several web providers that allow you to design your web page for free. Generally, your page "lives" on their domain, such as angelfire.com (click here for an example). But you pay in other ways: 1. Very often the software doesn't jibe with a user's browser. This can be a problem with any software, even the most sophisticated, but is more apt to conflict with the free stuff. So you'll get overlapping boxes, and Murphy's Law says that they'll cover the information you most want your site visitors to see!
2. The site is free because they use your space for their advertising. It can be frustrating for visitors to be bombarded with attention-grabbing ads that have nothing to do with the reason they're at your page.
3. Because the "freeware" is not as sophisticated as its for-profit brethren (they don't put a lot of time into its development, since it's not profitable), it is much more likely to be awkward to use and have conflicts with various browsers (see #1 above). Isn't your time worth more than fighting with inferior product?
If you want to avoid these pitfalls, consider making a one-time purchase of software. You still have to find a host for your site, and obtain a domain. OR, you can hire Rising Starr Enterprises to design & host your page! See our service options from our Join Info matrix. ALL clients get free web site promotion! |
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FREE Promotional Features! |
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OCBN Web Site Enhancements
- We link ALL businesses on the Oregon coast from their respective community pages for FREE! Are you on?
- If we have a pic of the storefront, we put a thumbnail next to the business name which links to the full-size photo (see item below). Send yours in today!
- If a business provides wi-fi access to the internet, we'll put a symbol next to their name on their community page.
- If a business is conservation-oriented (see article above), we'll put a symbol of that next to their name.
Community Features
The OCBN is not a substitute for the yellow pages. We don't list phone numbers or addresses - we wouldn't be able to keep up! Ours is a "home-grown," mind-based approach - we don't use databases for our pages. When we have a link to a web site we put it up - for free!
We are always looking for ways to solidify the "community-ness" of our site. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them! Send an email to oregoncoastbiz@gmail.com.
COMING UP: We will be introducing a "positive review" feature on the OCBN. You'll be able to publicly give a business a "pat on the back" when they give outstanding service or excellent product. We're working on the best way to implement it. In the meantime, please send in your comments and/or suggestions. We'll compile them and post when the feature is ready. |
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Tell our subscribers about your business! Would you like your business to stand out? For a limited time, we are offering this service for FREE! Try it out, at no obligation. Just send me the details, and I'll e-distribute it! (I reserve the right to condense, and to correct for spelling and/or grammar errors.) Here are this month's submissions:
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$$$ Cash paid for stamp collections and accumulations. Contact Mark at 541-961-5244 or marex@earthlink.net
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Support Wildlife ~ Julie's "pet" charity
 If you're looking for a worthy cause, consider donating to Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center in Salem, Oregon. Visit their web site by clicking on this logo.
ANNOUNCEMENTS (this is so cool!) from their email: "Avid TRWC supporters, the Clines, have made us a fantastic deal that we hope will generate income. The Clines own a condo at Lincoln City (45 miles west of Salem, Oregon for our out-of-state supporters). They will donate the proceeds from this unit, less expenses, to TRWC for everyone who stays at their condo and lists Turtle Ridge as the charity. Since they do not have a mortgage on the unit, the net proceeds could be substantial.The website is: http://www.bluepacificvacationr entals.com/LCRentals/pacwin /sandCastles.htm So enjoy the Oregon coast and reserve the Sandcastles and Sunsets room with Blue Pacific Vacation Rentals. Be sure and list Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center as your charity!"
And from their newsletter: "In July 2006, Read's Homemade Candies of Lincoln City made a commitment to help TRWC. They agreed to give every donor of $50 or more, two chocolate turtles. The turtles are mailed at the end of each quarter as a thank-you from Read's and us for your support. On your next trip to Lincoln City, be sure and stop in at the candy store located at:
1009 NW Highway 101. Visit www.readshomemadecandies.com."
Know of a charity on the coast? Let me know about them and I'll add them for FREE to our non-profits page. Email info and their web address to: oregoncoastbiz@gmail.com
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Submit Your Storefront!
FREE - add photo to your OCBN alpha listing
When possible, we put a micro-photo next to a business' alphabetical listing. If a visitor clicks on it, it opens in a new window to full-size. But we can't physically make it around to all stores! So we need your help.
Why do we do this? It's another service we offer. When a potential customer comes to a business, it's helpful for them to know what they're looking for. So send us your image, and if it's usable, we'll put it up!
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OCBN is the most inclusive online directory of Oregon coast businesses.
We promote the Oregon coast exclusively. In other words, we promote the whole Oregon coast, and nothing but the Oregon coast.
If you have any questions or don't wish to click on links from email, please explore our site by typing ocbn.net into your browser.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter!
All My Best,   Julie Starr, owner and designer
Oregon Coast Business Network | |
Voice Mail:
541-994-6662
eFax: 443-785-0680
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